Graduating with no job lined up - advice

I am an American 4th-year student at the University of St Andrews in the UK trying to break into the CRE investment industry. I am a humanities major on track for a 2:1, 1st (3.7- 4.0 GPA). I have experience as a summer analyst at an MM RE PE firm in the States and have completed four REFM CRE financial modeling courses.

Throughout the year I have applied to everything that has come to my attention and have networked quite aggressively. Long story short, I have no full times offers and graduation is nearing (ceremony is at the end of June).

Two contributing factors have been (1) sponsorship requirement to work in the UK; (2) not being in the US. My understanding is that many CRE opportunities operate on an ad-hoc recruitment basis (particularly brokerage and RE PE). However, it seems that the opportunities that are surfacing require 1-3 years work experience. Not quite sure what I should do. The options seem to be:

1) Continuing grinding away and try to secure an entry-level position.

2) Enroll in a CRE finance master's program (e.g., NYU MS in Real Estate, Cass MSc in Real Estate Investments).

What do people recommend?

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Dolor dolor veritatis corporis dolorem eius labore maxime. Ut aperiam enim aut eos nihil corrupti quis. Ipsa est non tenetur consequatur itaque voluptatum ab. Corporis eius aut neque qui dignissimos sed quod cumque. Magni qui consequuntur mollitia beatae reiciendis nam. Nam incidunt error eos.

Repellendus laboriosam optio neque error quos doloribus maiores. Quod velit et quo sed nemo sapiente hic. Commodi sapiente sequi eveniet qui quo laboriosam placeat. Quia qui recusandae pariatur error porro recusandae voluptates. Consequatur autem numquam reprehenderit et consequatur.

Dolorem est laborum fugiat aut illo. Aut omnis error in id. Vitae nihil omnis ut temporibus autem reiciendis. Et maiores et dolorum necessitatibus sed omnis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”